This is the ninth in an occasional series about San Antonio Tastemakers who have changed the flavor of food in the city.

Bruce Auden, the progenitor of cutting-edge cuisine in San Antonio, is the antithesis of the stereotypical chef. Modest and unpretentious despite the kudos heaped upon him, Auden prefers to avoid the limelight, and his humility is both refreshing and endearing.

Auden has been nominated for the sixth time for the James Beard “Best Chef Southwest” award; winners will be announced in New York on May 9. He grants that the nomination is “really nice,” but wishes another would get it. “It means more to them than it does to me. The recognition is what drives many of them.” Auden's personal rewards lie elsewhere.

Auden's food has been described as sophisticated, whimsical and delicious. It's consistently well executed and served without pretense in a casual, relaxed setting. He arrived in San Antonio in 1985 to open the much-heralded Polo's at the Fairmount Hotel where his food, termed “new American cuisine,” was a departure from the city's beloved barbecue and Mexican food.

But Auden's grasp of Texas tastes and his appreciation for Mexican culture encouraged his guests to venture outside their comfort zones and sample such dishes as Shiner Bock-battered onion rings served with escabeche vegetables and house-made habanero ketchup, or antelope and squab on maple sweet potato mashers served alongside poblano rajas, sautéed greens, pickled onions and juniper sauce. It marked the beginning of a revolution of sorts, with an unlikely general at the helm.

The early years

Auden grew up with three siblings in North London, really “suburbia,” he recalls, where “cows and old farm houses” existed not far from his home. Today his neighborhood is considered to be in the center of London. His dad was a policeman, and his mother worked outside the home in addition to cooking and running the household.

It was post-war England (Auden was born in 1955), and he recalls that he “didn't understand the (food) shortages.” He knew his mother was frugal — always making the most of what they had.

She “made a lot of stews — she'd put them on before she went to work,” feeding her family well using “cheap cuts of meat, fish, especially haddock.” It fell to Bruce to make the mashed potatoes or the mashed rutabagas. (“Mashers” are a staple on Auden's menus even today.) Sometimes the evening meal was just toast, and when corn on the cob appeared in the markets, they'd have just that for dinner — “maybe a couple of cobs each, with lots of butter.”

Auden remembers the food of his childhood fondly, with custards high on the list. His mother made her version of the classic steamed treacle sponge pudding, using Lyle's Golden Syrup, and served it with custard. Auden's celebrated Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe harkens back to those early memories of English puddings.

Surprisingly, the young Auden had no vision of himself as a chef — celebrated or otherwise. While still in school, his first job was working in a small supermarket. “It came naturally to me, putting older merchandise at the front, making sure not to leave any gaps,” he says. He soon graduated to slicing meat. When he left school, Auden went to work in retail at a drapery store.

Coming to America

But at the age of 17, Auden came to the United States. “I was a big blues and soul fan,” he recalls, and he got an opportunity to come to Chicago, the home of many noted blues and soul performers, with a friend whose dad had connections with the prestigious Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill. He began work as a busboy and worked on the grounds, but soon found the most fun was being had by the cooks in the kitchen who “got the attention of all the girls.” Soon he was assigned to cooking burgers at a cabana. “I messed up the first 50, but got it down after that. Got the mise en place and the timing down,” he says. It wasn't long until he was cooking in the kitchen with the chefs.

Auden never thought of going back to school — he was enjoying cooking even though he made “horrendous mistakes.”

“I don't think I'm gifted,” he insists. “Most things I work hard to do. It's not a natural thing for me.” Cooking on the line is “not for everyone,” he says. “There's lots of pressure and responsibility — lots expected. You're working when everyone else is off. If you don't accept it or enjoy it, it's not for you.”

Auden landed a job at the upscale Chicago restaurant, Cricket's, which was managed by the renowned “21” from New York. He then went to Denver, and there met chef Guy Petit and began working with him. Petit was moving to Chicago, and Auden went along with him. Cricket's was a high-profile restaurant, and there he learned a lot, he says — about cooking, and about “both good and bad behaviors” of chefs. He remained at Cricket's for six years, sharpening his skills and developing his eclectic style.

In the early '80s, Auden came to Texas when Petit was recruited to open the Mansion on Turtle Creek, also a “21” venture. The team that opened the Mansion left and recruited him to open at the “very trendy” restaurant called exposure, where he was chef. It was rated one of the best restaurants in Dallas by D magazine. “I did what I was told to do,” he says. “Never thought about recognition, but then I realized you got more money if people knew who you were.”

Auden also was discovering exotic ingredients and techniques from around the world. “Back then, you'd buy a cookbook, read about it, and just develop it from there,” but he began to travel and investigate other cultures, among them Mediterranean, Mexican and the Southwest. “When you travel — that's when you get it,” Auden says.

During these years, he came to know chefs Stephen Pyles, Dean Fearing and Robert del Grande — people he greatly admires. The “Southwest cuisine phase” had taken over, and Auden was busy experimenting with “various ingredients from Mexico — chiles and so on.”

His reputation as an innovative chef was growing, and soon Auden was recruited by the Houston restaurant Charley's 517, “one of the few downtown restaurants at the time.” One day, while working at Charley's 517, Dru van Steenberg came for dinner. Dru's mother, Virginia, was involved in developing the Fairmount Hotel, and after eating Auden's food, they recruited him to come to San Antonio and open the hotel's restaurant, Polo's. Auden fell for San Antonio and moved here in 1985 to begin the next phase of his life as executive chef of the newest, hottest restaurant in town.

Here, Auden began to attract both regional and national attention. Polo's was listed in Esquire magazine as one of the country's “Best Bars and Restaurants.” Then, in 1988, he was named one of Food & Wine magazine's Top Ten Best New Chefs. Food critics Mimi Sheraton and John Mariani sang his praises.

Changing times

It was an exciting time, and the restaurant took the city by storm, changing the face of dining in San Antonio. In typical Auden fashion, he says, “It was just the times. New American Cuisine was sweeping the country. It was something new that fit the restaurant scene. I happened to be the one — but the whole team was amazing. Everyone associated with it, including Lainey Berkus, who did the public relations — everyone.”

He hired a slew of young chefs to work with him, naming Philip Rice, Mike Bomberg, Mark Bliss, Jay McCarthy and lots of others. These and other young culinary professionals were nurtured and mentored by Auden, and he gave them his blessing when they ventured out on their own.

It was at Polo's that Auden met his future wife, Debra, who was waiting tables there. “Setting up a restaurant is so much fun — it's much harder to keep it going.” After two years, he says, “reality set in.” Auden left the Fairmount, and he and Debra were married. He worked with Cappy Lawton and they opened EZ's, but Auden was itching to open his own place.

Around that time, Debra picked up Carol Field's book, “The Italian Baker,” and began “baking bread and selling it around the neighborhood.” Debra wanted to do a bakery at the new restaurant, and, in 1991, they opened Restaurant Biga and LocuStreet Bakery in an old building on Locust Street. (Biga is the Italian word for the “starter” used in making bread. House made breads have remained a signature of Auden's restaurants.)

His love for San Antonio and South Texas was reflected in his food. He was using ingredients from local growers and suppliers as much as possible. In its first year, Biga was listed in Esquire's “Best Bars and Restaurants, and, in 1996, Biga received the prestigious Nation's Restaurant News “Fine Dining Hall of Fame” award.

For years, the Audens lived above the restaurant, although in 1993 they purchased property in Wimberley and visited it as often as possible. There they built their home, and, in 2004, moved there permanently. The kitchen was designed with bread classes in mind, and Debra still teaches upon request. (Call Biga for information at 210-225-0722.)

They remained at this location for several years but, with the old building that housed Restaurant Biga, it seemed that “something different broke down every day,” he recalls. It became obvious it was time to move on to a larger restaurant, one that could accommodate more patrons, large parties and attract “out-of-town foodies.” This would be a new style of restaurant, one more in keeping with Auden's hip, contemporary approach to food.

Situated in the International Center overlooking a tree-studded bend in the San Antonio river, the new digs, opened in 2000, were christened Biga on the Banks. This was an ambitious undertaking, and Auden amassed a crack team to help develop plans for the new venue.

“The numbers are huge compared to what we could do in old Biga,” he says. “I didn't think I'd make it at first ... it's even bigger than hotels.”

He credits his partners, team and staff — by name — for helping make it happen. Auden talks about his deep respect for partner and director of special events Perny Shea. “I wouldn't be where I am today without her,” he says. “I credit her with much of my success.”

Shea, also a native of England, says, “We're very lucky. We just thoroughly respect each other's values and decisions. It's like working with your big brother — without the sibling rivalry!”

The respect his people have for Auden no doubt accounts for the fact that many, including key people such as chef de cuisine Martin Stembera, pastry chef Lilla Bernal, general manager Jon Baumgartner and many others, have been with him for so many years. He admits to being “very private,” and says he “would have preferred just me and a couple of people, but in a location like that, it's hard to do.”

Despite the challenges, Auden made the decision to open another restaurant, Auden's Kitchen. There, the focus is on comfort food, served in a more modest space in a neighborhood setting in Stone Oak. He recruited Patricia “Trish” Wenckus, who had worked for him previously as sauté cook, to be his chef.

“At Biga, we are very driven by what's going on downtown,” Auden comments.

Family dining

This time, he was looking for a different market, going back to the suburbs, where families can feel comfortable bringing kids and with approachable prices. With a little more than one year under their belt, he says “we like it — we've been adjusting.”

Asked about his philosophy, Auden wishes “I had a more defined one. I like to keep to myself, but I really like the people that work with me. I like to be around them. It's sort of like raising a family,” he says.

“Kids can be different, you can't tell until you work with them. You have to find out what they're good at. Some have left that I wish hadn't. Kids do that, too.”

Awards continue to come his way. In 2000, Biga on the Banks was named among Gourmet magazine's “America's Best Restaurants.” The Dallas Morning News listed Auden in “Who's Who in Texas Wine and Food.” The S.A. New World Wine & Food Festival (now Culinaria) awarded him the San Pascual award for his considerable contributions to cuisine in San Antonio, and the San Antonio Express-News critics cited Biga for “Best Brunch” in its Readers' Choice Awards. It also received the highest rating of four stars in all areas of food, service and ambience in its most recent Express-News review.

But it's not the awards that drive Auden. It's his family and his responsibility “to do good for them” — his wife, Debra; Berean, 18; Andrea, 14; Miciah, 11; and Tristan, 8. Berean “works pantry and desserts on weekends,” says Auden, and Andrea has expressed interest in working at Biga as well.

Auden still works hard, arriving at Auden's Kitchen around midmorning. He stays there through lunch, then usually heads down to Biga. Chefs “Trish and Martin schedule me. I go where the need is. Wherever they need hands. Weekends they need me at both places,” he says.

But when he has the chance, Auden loves being outdoors at his home in Wimberley, “growing things, and so on. We just put in a pond,” he says proudly. He hopes to find more time to travel in the future, but right now, he's taking care of all he has created — his family, his extended family, the staff, his friends, restaurants and patrons. All have grown to respect and admire this remarkable, humble man.

Biga on the Banks is at 203 S. St. Mary's St., 210-225-0722; Auden's Kitchen is at 700 E. Sonterra Blvd., Suite 1117, 210-494-0070.